You've Got Mail
by 0928soubi at docomo.ne.jp
Summary: Orihime has moved away across Japan, and Tatsuki is feeling ignored. She recieves an email from a friend, that strengthens their bond, and makes Tatsuki face the dark, painful side of love most people are lucky enough to avoid. SHOUJO-AI! TatsuxHime
1. Message One

**MUST READ**: This series will be presented in various formats, for example: email, texting, and some vocal conversation. Please alert me if it gets confusing.

Disclaimer? I don't own bleach. Any similarities between characters and persons, live or dead, is purely coincidental. (XD) The email sites have been altered to fit the fic.

a/n The format was surprisingly hard to figure out for this one. I wasn't sure about the whole email bit, and so it took WAY longer to write than it should have...Things in Italics are whatever the email says.

Many thanks to:

My minion, a.k.a. Yuri. -that's her name, not the genre XD- you can half blame her for the production of this fic.

THIS IS A SHOUJO-AI!

* * *

Tatsuki turned off the water, standing motionless in the shower, grey mist swirling around her. She shivered as she moved the curtain aside, stepping out into the cold air. Blankly, she grasped at the wall to her right, until her hand fell upon a soft green towel. Grabbing it, she wrapped it around herself, careful to dry off completely. Walking to the sink, she used her right forearm to wipe away the condensation on the mirror. Swiftly, she knelt down in front of the cabinet, opened it, and removed a smaller yellow towel which she used to dry her short black hair. She stood again, sighing as she stared at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes, something uncharacteristic for a young teenager like herself. Her hair hung limp, it was obvious even in the wet state it was in now. She hadn't had a real night's sleep in...she couldn't recall. She missed Orihime. The thought brought a pain to her that shook her back to reality. She had a life aside from Orihime. She knew it. But her mind was filled with senseless worry and doubts, such as "But does _Orihime_ know that?" or "Why would she care? It's not like she feels the same way about me..." That last thought smarted, for unrequited love hurt. Anyone who thinks _KARMA _is a bitch, has never been in Tatsuki's position. No, in terms of physical, emotional, and mental agony, unrequited love took the whole bloody cake.

The worn-out teenager walked into her room, shouldering off her robe as she reached the night clothes she had laid out on her bed. Letting the soft cream fabric fall to the floor, she replaced it with a clean pair of panties, and a silken pink night gown, a gift her favorite grandmother had given her several years ago. Normally, Tatsuki wouldn't have chosen something so girly for herself, especially because of the light pink ribbon bows going around the collar, but she loved the way the material swished when she walked, the smooth fabric caressing her skin with each step she took, adding a measure of comfort to an otherwise hectic day.

Walking over to her computer, she jiggled the mouse slightly to make the screen come bursting back to life. The desktop background donned a candid photo of Orihime a friend had emailed her. The memory reminded her to check her email, as she did every morning and every night, just in case Orihime (or one of her other friends) had sent her anything. Logging onto the internet, she typed "www.docano.ne.jp" into the address bar, sighing as it took awhile to load. She had to delete some of the files on here, really. Otherwise, she'd NEVER be able to load anything faster than five minutes. The colorful website popped open, showing she had three new messages.

After she had checked the first to, discovering spam and deleting it, she clicked on the third message, opening it to reveal a message from her long-time friend from the dojo, Airi. The message was a quiz, which goal it was to get to know your friends better.

**NEW MESSAGE:**  
From: Airi (aireallyluvsyou at docano.ne.jp)

To: "Tatsuki" (tathawt at docano.ne.jp) , "jei-jei" (macchi at docano.ne.jp), "rin" (balto980 at kitsune.ne.jp), "hanabi" (hanabi890 at _docano_.ne.jp), "kai" (ghosthunterkai at kitsune.ne.jp), "rukia" (rukiaslaysthehollow at kitsune.ne.jp), "rie" (punkrockerjapan at kitsune.ne.jp)

"Great. More chainmail. Oh, well..." she sighed, reading the directions. _'Here's what you're supposed to do...please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, and in the space marked 'YOUR ANSWER,' type in, -well, obviously- your answer. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Ther theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you._'

She grinned. This was something to be expected when you befriended Airi. Pointless junk mail, and lots of it. But, her curiosity about the quiz got the better of her, and she went on to the first question.

_1._ _What time did you start this quiz?_

_MY ANSWER: 10:44_

Tatsuki looked to check the time. 'It's still pretty early...' she thought, as she changed the answer, adding a sleeping smiley face to the end.

_YOUR ANSWER: 17:03._

_2. What's your full name?_

_MY ANSWER:_ _Yuuka Airi._

_YOUR ANSWER:_ _Arisawa Tatsuki._

She added a kissy face to the end of her name, just for the hell of it, smirking at the motions of the smiley. She highlighted the text a bright purple, a darker blue for the font color, making it clearly visible.

_3._ _What are you most afraid of?_  
_MY ANSWER:_ _Cannibals and...Jei-Jei. (But who isn't? XD)_

Tatsuki laughed at that last bit, an image of a pissed-off Jei-Jei scaring away all the kouhai flashing through her mind.

_YOUR ANSWER:_

She shifted in her chair, so that her left foot was on the desk, her right tucked beneath her, with the keyboard at an angle in her lap. Now in a more comfortable position, she gave the question some thought, while she high-lighted the rest of the words in questions one and three. Giving a sad smile, she decided on her answer. She stared at the screen, sighing as she resumed typing.

_YOUR ANSWER:_ _My mom finding the yuri I wrote, and her banning me from fanfiction. Nah, just kidding. XD What I'm REALLY afraid of is more rejection._

'Ah...I feel so weak whenever I say things like that...I'll just train at the dojo more.' She reasoned, flipping the colors of the text and font, adding a sad smiley to the end.

_4. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? _

_MY ANSWER:_ _DEATHNOTE movie_.

_YOUR ANSWER: Deathnote movie._

Tatsuki grinned at the memory of going to see it with the red haired girl, and having one of her other friends in the top row throw popcorn, and having it 'accidently' hit Airi in the head.

_5. Place of birth?_

_MY ANSWER:_ _OUTER SPACE. Woo-hoo!!_  
_YOUR ANSWER:_ _I DON'T KNOW??_

She gave it little thought, this time adding a confused smiley, and changing the font colors to seafoam green and a neon yellow.

_6. Favorite food:_  
_MY ANSWER: sushi and ramen, yum._  
_YOUR ANSWER: Sweet buns filled with bean paste. The yellow kind..._

The thought made Tatsuki realize just how hungry she was, so after adding a hungry face to her answer, she minimized it, getting up and heading to the kitchen to get some food.

_7. Your natural hair color? _  
_  
MY ANSWER: Red._

_YOUR ANSWER: Black._

Tatsuki typed, sitting back down with a glass of milk and some cookies balanced on her right hand. She highlighted the text in the same fashion as the others, and sighed. It would take her forever to complete the quiz if she kept highlighting and adding smiley faces, but it made it easier to read what she wrote.

_8. Been to Okinawa? _  
_MY ANSWER: Not yet._  
_YOUR ANSWER: Once._

_9. Ever been toilet paper rolling?_  
_MY ANSWER: Yes._

For the second time that night, a question on this quiz brought back a relatively happy memory. This time, it was one of she and some of the office ladies toilet papering the office of the pricipal on his birthday.

_YOUR ANSWER: Of course!! (It was on the principal's birthday. Let's just say...I gave him a gift he wont' soon forget. -the janitors were in on it too. They supplied a large amount of the toilet paper-) I'm innocent!!_

She added a smart ass grin and an angel to the end of that one, highlighting it in bright red, with a dark blue font text. Her smile dissapeared as soon as she saw Question Ten.

_10. Have you ever loved someone so much it made you cry?_  
_MY ANSWER: Hmmmm..._

_YOUR ANSWER:_

A bitter smile plastered itself across the young girl's face. She drew in a breath as she let a little of her hurt show through in her answer.

_YOUR ANSWER: Only once. And I hope I never make that mistake again._

For the first time since beginning the quiz, she just moved onto the next question, not bothering to highlight or add any faces whatsoever.

_11. Been in a car accident?_  
_MY ANSWER: Uh, not that I remember..._

_YOUR ANSWER: Yup. All of them while my mom was driving._

She proceeded to highlight the rest of her answers, adding a smiley face to each one after number ten.

_12. Croutons or Bacon bits:_  
_  
MY ANSWER:_ _Croutons most definetly._ (1)

_YOUR ANSWER: (Damn...I'm sending this to a vegetarian, and I hate croutons...uh...) tofu-bits!! (XD)_

_13. Favorite day of the week?  
MY ANSWER: Friday._

_YOUR ANSWER: Saturday. My favorite TV shows are on._

_14. Favorite restauant:_

_MY ANSWER: Ichiban's._

_YOUR ANSWER: Kim Son's?_

_15. Favorite Flower:_

_MY ANSWER: White roses and cherry blossoms._  
_YOUR ANSWER: Anything orange._

_16. Favorite sport to watch:  
MY ANSWER: Basketball._

_YOUR ANSWER: Pro wrestling._

One of the few interests the two of them didn't share just happened to be this: they both loved training at the dojo, but only Tatsuki took it to the next level, watching pro wrestling almost daily.

_17. Favorite drink:  
MY ANSWER: Um, tea. P)  
YOUR ANSWER: Ramune. Any flavor._

_18. Favorite ice cream:  
MY ANSWER: The kind with alcohol in it. P)  
YOUR ANSWER: The kind with oranges in it._

_19. What color is your bedroom carpet?  
MY ANSWER: Tanish...it used to be white.  
__YOUR ANSWER: Orange-ish._

20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email?  
MY ANSWER: Jei-Jei. No...wait. BUDDA!!  
YOUR ANSWER: Orihime.

21. What's your favorite color?

MY ANSWER: Rainbow. 8P

_YOUR ANSWER: Orange._

_22. What do you do when you're bored?  
MY ANSWER: Daydream, read, write, bug the crap outta Jei-Jei. _

_YOUR ANSWER: Plot revenge, write stories and fanfic, draw, contemplate, read, eat, read other people's fanfics, practice sparring, read doujinshi (rarely.) rant, bug people, reminisce, and beat myself up about Question Ten. Oh, and wondering why Question Ten broke off all contact with me, without any Goddamned explanation. (Oh, look. I swore. Not NEARLY enough, though. DAMN. HELL. ASS. BASTARD. BITCH! FUCK.)_

Her anger rose to a new level as she realized she was thinking only of Orihime, even on a subconscious level, and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to finish the quiz.

_23. What is your bedtime:  
MY ANSWER: I'm an insomniac.  
YOUR ANSWER: 21:00. If I stay up later than that, I'm too tired to train in the morning._

_24. Favorite TV show:  
MY ANSWER: INUYASHA!  
YOUR ANSWER: BLOOD+...No, wait. Code Geass!! Nooo...DEATHNOTE!!_

_25. How many pets do you have?  
_

_MY ANSWER: 1 Doggie. _

_YOUR ANSWER: None. I'm not allowed to keep a pet in the apartment, although I'd like to get a pet someday._

_26. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  
MY ANSWER: Da chicken, of course!(Which is NOT supposed to be eaten!!)  
YOUR ANSWER: The egg? What's this have to do with getting to know my friend? Or me?_

She smiled, realizing she was on the second to last question, and then she'd be done with this infuriating email once and for all.

_27.What do you want to do before you die?  
MY ANSWER: Get married, a tattoo, travel to as many different countries as possible, conquer the world, heheheh..._

_YOUR ANSWER: Face my fears and FORCE Question Ten to talk to me, and possibly tell Question Number Ten the truth. Though I doubt I'll be brave enough for that..._

Tatsuki hated feeling weak, especially if she has to face her feelings and doubts. At least when she typed her answer to the last question, she wouldn't have to face them again unless Question Ten --Orihime, tried to contact her.

_30. Time this survey ended:  
MY ANSWER: 11:14 _

_YOUR ANSWER: 17:46, Because it was reaaally long, and I lost my cool._

She stretched. Finally, she was done, so she pressed the forward button, sending it back to the person who sent it, Airi. Reviewing her answers, she frowned. She really sounded almost..._obsessed_ with Orihime. She had to change.

* * *

(1)-she's a vegetarian. XD I laughed when I saw this question.

a/n So. I hope you liked it. Wasn't quite as angsty as I had hoped, but it's better than my previous attempts. I'm plotting for this to be around twenty chapters, and decided to write this while I was still pissed at a certain someone, other wise it would be too happy-ish to be angsty.

Please, REVIEW. But NO FLAMERS!! Unless it's tough love. -wipes away a tear-


	2. Message Two

Warning: implied shoujo-ai. Yes, meaning girlxgirl.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Special thanks to: M80theWOLF, sylvrewolfe, Belthasar, my heart is an icebox and Farios for reviewing and/or favoriting. bows

Extra-Special, **HUGE** thanks to:  
Belthasar, for catching such a fucking HUGE problem...-sweat- I am indebted to you. -bows- (I had placed in my profile -and several other sites- that this was already up, and I was about to post chapter three when I got a pm, telling me it wasn't up...Which would've been baaaad. I didn't realize it, sorry!)

* * *

Chapter Two

Tatsuki glared at the gauze in her right hand. She silently swore as the medical tape stuck to her fingers, wrapping around itself. She looked up into the mirror, sighing as she noticed her cheek was bleeding again. Setting down the gauze and tape, she reached for the alcohol prep pad, cleaning off the blood from her wound. Mentally, she lectured herself. She really had to watch out for Airi's kicks.

The two had been sparring at the dojo, with Tatsuki winning as she always did. The shorter, red headed girl had attempted to hit Tatsuki in the chest, but she had grabbed her wrist and turned her away, just as Airi had hoped she would. Taking advantage of her new position and closeness, she swung her right foot up, aiming for Tatsuki's face. She had dodged, but Airi's aim was just off enough that it ended up hitting her square in the face, her bright green toe nails slicing a moderate gash in the sensitive flesh of the cheek.

She bit the inside of her lip as she cleaned it, the alcohol stinging the open cut. Setting down the once white, now oddly pinkish pad, she raised the gauze, carefully placing it over the top of the cut, attaching it with a small cut slice of medical tape.

'Hn...now to check my email. There's probably a million apology letters from Airi.' She thought, a boyish grin firmly in place as she walked over to the computer and pulled up the internet. Screening through her emails, there were indeed nearly one hundred emails addressed to her with the tag line of _'I'M SOOOOOO SORRY, TATSUKI!!_ T.T' One email caught her eye, though. Opening it up, she saw it was the email she had forwarded to Airi the other day.

_'NEW MESSAGE:  
From: "Airi" -aireallyluvsyou at docano.ne.jp-  
To: "Tatsuki" -tathawt at docano.ne.jp-_

_So...Who's this mystery 'Number Ten' Tatsuki-chan? I didn't know you liked anybody! You were holding out on me! No fair, I told you I liked Koibito-kun, why didn't you tell me you liked a guy?!'_

"Huh? I never said it was a _guy _I liked...Oh, well. I guess there's nothing wrong with letting her believe what she wants." Tatsuki thought, clicking 'Reply' on the Task bar.

'Why should I tell you?' Tatsuki typed, adding a cute winking smiley face to the end of her reply, before clicking 'Send' and logging out. Pushing her chair out, she walked over to her bed and pulled back the covers, shivering at the cold twinge of the sheets. Pulling the comforter up over her head, she used her other arm to turn off the lights. Sighing, she snuggled into the faint flowery smell of the comforter above her, clutching the stuffed bunny Orihime had once given her. Holding it out, she sighed as she stared at it, memories of the day she had recieved it swimming in her exhausted memories.

It had been a quiet, rainy day, with both of them stuck in school to help with clean-up duty.

-

* * *

-  
"_Orihime-chan, could you help me with this over here?_" Tatsuki had waved her bouyant friend over, her blue hair clips sparkling as always when she walked into the faint rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds out the window.

"_Uhm, sure, Tatsuki-chan, just let me finish this._" Orihime turned to look at her best friend as she dumped the contents of the black dustpan she was holding out in the trashcan. "_What was it you needed?_"

"_This box of text books needs to go to the first floor library. Would you mind helping me carry it down the stairs? It's pretty heavy, so if you don't want to, I can get Ichigo-kun or Sanzo-kun to help instead."_ Tatsuki pointed to the box filled to the brim with about fifty textbooks.

"_Oh, it's no problem, Tatsuki-chan! I'm glad to help. I'll do my best to support it, okay?"_ Orihime pumped a fist in the air, beaming at her dark-haired best friend.

"_Thanks, Orihime-chan. Just be careful not to drop it on your feet, okay?_" Tatsuki smiled, watching as Orihime bent over to lift up the heavy box. Did shw know how beautiful she was? Her long orange hair billowed down, successfully contouring her perfect curves. Tatsuki found herself blushing as she helped her friend to lift up the box of heavy books, her blush deepening as Orihime looked up at her with those clear grey eyes of hers.

After they had carried the books down the stairs to the library, she and Orihime had sat leisuerly on the stairs, just talking. All of a sudden, Orihime's expression changed to one of excitement as if she had just remembered something really important.

"_What is it, Orihime-chan?_" Tatsuki raised an eyebrow quizzically as the bubbly girl dug through the backpack she had brought with her.

"_Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot something so important..."_ Orihime hit her forehead. "_I can be kinda slow sometimes, huh, Tatsuki-chan?_"

"_What is it, Orihime-chan?_" Tatsuki repeated patiently, blinking when an orange plush bunny was thrust into her face.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TATSUKI-CHAN!!" Orihime had yelled, glomping her best friend when she took it and nodded her appreciation.

* * *

'Orihime...why won't you call me? I know it's cliche, but it hurts not to be able to see you or hear from you. You're...probably the only person I've ever cried over.' Tatsuki thought before she managed to slip into unconsiousness, the day's training finally catching up with her. As she succumbed to the Sandman's careful world of woven dreams, she allowed a lone clear tear to trickle down her cheek.

* * *

-a/n- Really short, and not that good, I know. But I had to set up the next chapter, so maybe that'll make up for it?

REVIEW, dammit!!


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